Can carrier sleeve with bottom holding flaps



Sept. 24, 1957 A. ROUS 2,807,357

CAN CARRIER SLEEVE WITH BQTTQM HOLDING FLAPS Originai filed June 4, 1948 INVENTOR. Arfhur Rous Mm,

ATTORNEY I United States Patent C) CAN CARRIER SLEEVE WITH BOTTOM HOLDING FLAPS Original application June 4, 1948, Serial No, 31,003.

Divided and this application December 16, 1955, Serial No. 553,527

1 Claim. (Cl. 206-46) My invention relates to a new and improved collapsible carton or box for holding cans, such as cans of soup and other products. This application is a division of my prior U. S. application, Serial No. 31,003, for Collapsible Carton, filed June 4, 1948, now Patent No. 2,727,674.

Such cans are provided with respective recesses at their ends, thus providing annular internal shoulders at their respective ends.

According to my invention, I provide a carton in the form of a rectangular, open-ended sleeve. The bottom wall of said sleeve has a pair of flaps hinged thereto along interior, parallel hinge lines, said flaps normally extending toward each other from said hinge lines. Said flaps are adapted to be bent outwardly 180 so that they extend away from each other from said hinge lines. Said locking flaps are biased by the material of the carton to tend to return to their normal positions.

A can may be inserted into said open-ended sleeve through one of the ends thereof, until said can is entirely contained within said sleeve and until said flaps are located within the lower end recess of the can. Preferably, the outer edges of said flaps then abut said annular internal shoulder, the outer edges of said flaps being shaped to conform substantially to the arcuate shape of said shoulders. In view of the fact that the flaps are biased upwardly, they exert a firm locking action upon the can.

Numerous other objects, advantages and features of my invention are disclosed in the following description, in conjunction with the annexed drawings, which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof.

In the drawings,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the set-up carton of this invention, showing how the folded flaps are bent to substantially abut the inner face of the bottom wall of the carton.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the carton of Fig. 1, showing a can in position therein.

Upon reference to the drawings in detail, it will be noted that Fig. 1 shows a set-up carton which has a bottom wall 1, side walls 2 and 3 and a top wall 5a. These walls are turnably connected to each other at their junction edges E. Said carton may be made of a single flat rectangular blank which can be scored to permit it to be folded as shown in Fig. 1. Conventionally, it is customary to connect two of the walls by a glue flap, and such glue flap is not shown in the drawings because it is conventional. It will be apparent that the carton of Fig. 1 is in the form of a generally rectangular sleeve having open ends. Optionally, the bottom wall 1 is square.

Bottom wall 1 is provided with two integral holding flaps 30 and 30a which are turnable about the scored fold lines 31 and 31a, adjacent respective opposite edges of bottom wall 1.

These hinge lines 31 and 31a are formed so as normally to urge the holding flaps 30 and 30a into positions in which they lie substantially in the plane of bottom wall 1 and extend inwardly toward each other from their hinge lines.

This carton is intended to be used to hold a single can C. Said can C, as shownin Fig. 2, has a bottom bead Ca, which defines a recess in the bottom of said can C. Before inserting can C, the holding flaps 30 and 30a are turned by the fingers of the operator until said holding flaps 30 and 30a extend outwardly from each other relative to their hinge lines and substantially abut the upper face of bottom wall 1. This is clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Can C is then inserted into the carton, through one of its open ends, with the bottom bead Ca located opposite bottom wall 1. As the can is inserted, the holding flaps 30 and 30a enter the bottom recess ofcan C. When can C is fully inserted into the carton, said holding flaps 30 and 30a spring upwardly into the bottom recess of can C, as a result of the biasing action of the hinge lines 31 and 31a. The outer edges of said holding flaps 30 and 30a are shaped to substantially abut the inner edge of bead Ca along substantially the entire length of said edges. The appropriate convex shape of said outer edges of said flaps 30 and 30a is shown in Fig. 1.

As a result of the fact that said flaps 30 and 30a are urged upwardly, they tend to remain seated firmly in the end recess of can C even if attempts are made to dislodge the can through one of the open ends of the carton.

Preferably, can C is wholly contained within the carton when locked in place by the flaps 30 and 30a. Optionally, can C is a tight or frictional fit between top wall 5a and bottom wall 1. Optionally, top wall 5a has a central aperture as shown in the drawing.

While I have disclosed a preferred embodimeent of my invention, and have indicated various changes, omissions and additions which may be made therein, it will be apparent that various other changes, omissions and additions may be made in the invention, without departing from the scope and spirit thereof.

I claim:

A can package comprising an end-recessed can, a sleeve formed from a unitary blank of material having opposed upper and lower walls and opposed side walls hingedly connected to each other to form a continuous rectangular band, said sleeve having open ends, said can being inserted within said sleeve with the periphery of said can frictionally abutting the side walls of said sleeve and with the recessed ends of said can frictionally abutting the top and bottom walls of said sleeve, said bottom wall having opposed cut-out flaps hinged thereto inwardly of the respective ends thereof, each of said flaps normally extending inwardly from its hinge line and being adapted to be folded upon its hinge line so that it then extends outwardly therefrom, said flaps being biased away from said bottom wall into engagement with the end recess of the can, each of said end flaps having its detached edge shaped to substantially abut the peripheral edge of said end recess along the major portion of the length of said detached edge.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,554,190 Hennessey May 22, 1951 2,722,365 Phipps Nov. 1, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 489,980 Canada Jan. 27, 1953 

